Sunshine, temperatures in the 50's, sun low in the sky. It could be March or April instead of November. The first seed catalog arrived before Thanksgiving, which of course has me thinking about next year's yard and garden. But instead of just thinking, today I was doing.
Since I adopted Clio from the Fort Wayne Pitbull Coalition, my backyard is a mess. She and Watson zoom around, and Clio's big feet churn up the sod. Recent rains have not helped.
Then there is the digging. The two of them actually caught a mole. I didn't know there were moles around here. Voles, yes, moles, no.
So now I am puzzling over how best to rescue the yard. To protect the non-raised beds, fencing of some sort seems to be in order, but I don't want to obscure the plantings. There's "invisible fencing" and electric fencing, but I have not had much luck with those in the past because eventually they stop working and figuring out where the problem is is a hassle.
The dogs are pretty well behaved if I am out in the yard, so I'm hoping if I provide a barrier that is more visible, I can teach them to not cross into the beds. Toward that end, today I edged the hosta bed and erected a short white wire fence, stabilized with not-as-short white pickets. I may add some fluttery tape, the better to see the boundary.
The grass will have to wait until spring to be rejuvenated. Maybe overseeding with a tougher variety will help. I am also contemplating stepping stones of some sort on the north and south sides of the house, so at least I have somewhere to walk above the mud.
And I am open to suggestions. Anyone?
